Ecclesiastical Dress in Art.

Article II-Colour (Part II) Author(s): Egerton Beck Reviewed work(s): Source: The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 7, No. 29 (Aug., 1905), pp. 373-376 Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/856422 . Accessed: 06/08/2012 18:45
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EFORE dealingwith the remainingcolours,it may not be amiss to give some more instancesof the use of red by bishops,canons, andother churchmen. It would be impossibleto complete the list, but as every ecclesiasticin red is at once assumed to be a cardinalevery additional item of information is of value and should tend to minimizeerrors. To the list of bishops must be added the archbishop of Milan, who, a friendon the spot informs me, wears a red cappa like the archbishopof Pisa. The archif ananonymous sevenbishopof Valencia, writer be teenth-century may trusted,at one time dressed asa cardinal;of this,hownor ever,I havenot foundanyconfirmation, do Iknow how he dresses at the present day. It is perhapsworth mentioningthat the archbishopof Florence was, at the beginning of the sixteenthcentury,granted the privilegeof using the 'purple' for his dresson certaingreatfeasts.3 It seemsthat the archbishop of Canterburywore a redcassock. Warham(I 503in his portraits at I532) is so represented Lambethandin the Louvre; so is Arundel (1397-1398 and 1399-1414) in his portrait at Lambeth,but in this case a question arisesas to the date of the painting. 4 quotesa document Villanueva fromthe archivesof the chapterof Urgel, or La Seu d'Urgel, in Catalonia,which shows that the bishopof Urgel (joint over-lord with Franceof the republicof Andorra) and his canonsformerly, and apparently for a long dressed in red. In 1429, the carperiod,
The author of Voyage d'Espagne,Contenant entre flusieurs tarticularitez de ce Royaume Trois Discours Politiques sur les affaires du Protecteurd'Angleterre, la Reine de Suede et du Duc de Lorraine (Cologne, 1666). See p. 103. 8 Moroni, Dizionario, xxv, 56. 4 Viage literario atlas Iglesias de Esfala, ix, 186, 187. (Madrid, 1803-1852; the work is in 22 vols.)
2

ECCLESIASTICAL DRESS IN ART 0 BY EGERTON BECK W ARTICLE II-COLOUR (PART II)'

dinal-legate, Peter de Foix, afterwards archbishop of Arles, forbade the clergy of the Aragonese dominions to make use of red. Against this decreeone of the canons of Urgel, Augustin de Insula, protested at the council of Tortosa, presidedover by the legate. In his protest the worthy canon stated that the bishop and canons had for more than three hundred years worn red, and that the pope and the Roman church had known of and tolerated the custom. Villanueva addsthat he does not know the result of the protest; at the time of his visit, however, the canons dressedin violet. Among the canons, not already mentioned, who wear red are those of Bisignano, in Calabria,who have a crimson cappa and mozzetta; 5 those of the cathedralsin the provinces of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia,who all use a dark red cappa, morado or mulberrycolour.6 The canonsof Brixen, in Tyrol, have had a red collar since 1748;'7 those of Valladolid, in Old Castile, have not only a red collar but also red stockings;" and those of Braga, in Portugal, have red stockings and a red sash.9 The canons of Sorrento have for ages past, da tempo worn a' purple' mozantichissimo, zetta ; io andthe samedistinctionwasgranted to the chapter of the collegiate church of Courgne, in Piedmont, in the early part of the last century." About the same time the canons of the collegiate churches of Monticelli and Castellarquato,in the then duchy of Parma,were given a crimson silk mozzetta ;12 andthoseof Sora,in the Terra
5 Bullarii Romani Continuatio (edited by Barberi), xvii, 418. The crimson mozzetta was worn before this date; the bull confirmed the custom and gave the crimson cappa. 6 Villanueva, op. cit. i, 33, 34. 7 This appears from the statutes of the chapter. The part relating to the choir-dress of the canons was most kindly copied and sent to me, with much further information, by the Rev. Alfred Fink, of the Missionhaus at Brixen. 8 For this information I am indebted to the rector of the Scots' college, Valladolid. 9 Bull. Rom. Cont. xiii, 457. 10 Moroni, lxvii, 233. Bull. Rom. Cont. xix, 1x 12Ibid. xiv, 572 and xv,653. 291.

1 For Article I see page 281, ante (July,

19o05).

H H

373

Ecclesiastical Dress in Art

di Lavoro, have the particular privilege of wearing one of crimson velvet like that of the pope.I3 In former times the canons of Milan had red skullcaps and shoes in addition to the red cappa which they still wear ;I4 and the dignitaries of LePuy en Velay had not given up their red choir dress when Vital Bernard, himself a canon of that church, wrote in the seventeenth century.I5 In the Low Countries the wearing of red was not unknown; the canons of Tournay have been mentioned already, but they were not the only ones distinguished by the use of that colour. In the exhibition at Utrecht in 1894 there was a portrait (belonging, I believe, to the city orphanage) of one Evert Zoudenbatch, who was canon and treasurer of Utrecht, and provost of Maestricht at the end of the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century. He is represented in cassock, surplice, and almuce; and the exhibition catalogue says that the cassock is red.'6 Certain ecclesiastics, of whom no mention has so far been made, wore red because of their connexion with a military order. Some of the knights of the French order of Mount Carmel and St. Lazarus were clerics, and their distinguishing dress was a crimson velvet mozzetta worn over a rochet.I7 The Italian order of Constantine also had ecclesiastical knights, and such of them as were of noble birth wore a crimson velvet biretta.'8 The chief ecclesiastic of the Constantine order and the ordinary of its churches was the grand prior. In chapter and on state occasions this personage wore a violet cassock with crimson trimmings; a lace rochet; over the rochet a 'sopraveste' of sky-blue; a crimson sash; on the
s1 Moroni,lxvii, 202. in Milano, p. 15 (2nd ed. 14Magistretti, Le Vesti ecclesiastiche Milan, 1905). 15 V. Bernard, Le Miroir de Chanoines,p. 27 (Paris, 1630). 16 A reproduction of the portrait and the catalogue of the exhibition are in the print room of the British Museum. 17 Helyot, Histoire des Ordres Religieux, i. 396 (Paris, 17I41719). di XI Clemente Radente, Bolla 'Militantis Ecclesia,' e suo 18s p. 145. (Naples, 1858.) commento,

breast of the 'sopraveste' the cross o the order in crimson velvet, silver and gold; a violet mantle; and a crimson velvet biretta-a dress which suggests the glory or the gaudiness of a bird of paradise or a Some religious also dressed in red. An order of Slav monks found in Bohemia and Poland had a habit of that colour; 20 and Boissard mentions another, the 'ordo Johannitarum de Civitate' as having a red habit,2' but I have so far failed to find any mention of this order elsewhere. Before passing on something more must be said too about rose. It was stated in the last article that the hat-cord of protonotaries was of this colour. This is no longer the case; the reigning pope has but just recently changed it. In February last he regulated the privileges of protonotaries by a motuproprio; and now the cord of their hat, the cord of their pectoral cross, when they wear one, the tuft of their biretta, and the tassels of the hat placed over their arms have all to be ruby-coloured, coloris rubini.22 On the other hand, the canons of Leghorn do not stand alone in having a rose-coloured choir-dress. The canons of the collegiate church of St. Erasmus at Veroli, in the Campagna, have a rose silk cappa, the tippet of which is faced with violet.23 the second half of the VIOLET.-Till sixteenth century there was no restriction With French as to the use of violet. clerics it was a favourite colour during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,24 and its use by them continued till well within the seventeenth; Dom Claude de Vert, prior of the Cluniac house of St. Peter at Abbeville, says that people were still living
op. cit. i. 229 ss. and Boissard, Habitus variarunt orbisgentium, Pt. iii, plate 15. (Antwerp, 1581.) 21 Loc. cit. 2 Motu Proprio, Inter multiflices curas at pp. 9, io, 12 (Rome
20oHelyot,

parrot.X'

19 Radente,

op. cit. 138.

4 Quicherat, Histoire du Costume en France (Paris, 1875), p. 318.

Vatican Press, 1905). 23 Moroni, xciv, io (volume dated 1859).

374.

Ecclesiastical 'Dress in Art

when he wrote, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, who remembered ecclesiastics in that town wearing violet.25 It is also mentioned in English inventories.26 In Venice it was used by parish priests and by such other ecclesiastics as were graduates of Padua ;27 we find too that, in 1591, the canons of St. Mark's, the ducal chapel, were ordered by the doge, Pasqual Cicogna, to resume the violet choirdress which they had abandoned."8 In I592 violet was recognized by the patriarch, Laurence Priuli, as suitable for the use of the dignified clergy and of parish priests.29 In the diocese of Bologna it had to be expressly forbidden so late as 1736.30 But already at the beginning of the sixteenth century it is mentioned by Paris de Grassis as being one of the two colours suitable for a bishop's cappa; 3' and in the last year of that century it was definitely ordered for bishops by the Caeremoniale Episcoporum, published by direction of Clement VIII. But as has been said already its use by the ordinary clergy lingered on for another century. However in 1736 Cardinal Lambertini was able to say, in general terms, that then violet was proper to bishops, the papal household, and some seminarists to the exclusion of all other ecclesiastics. He made no mention of canons, many of whom wear violet, possibly because, except in the case of a special privilege, they may only use this colour for their choir-dress, whilst the others also use it for their ordinary dress. The violet ordered by the Caeremoniale did not extend to the head-dress. The skullcap of that colour was granted to bishops
See, for example, that of Richard de Ravenser in The ProInstitute, 1848. ceedingsof the Royal Archaeological 27 Gallicciolli, MemorieVenete,bk. ii, ? 1678 (Venice, 1795). 28 Ibid. ? 1684. 29 Ibid. ? 1683. 80 See the decree of Cardinal Lambertini, afterwards Beneof then dict XIV, Bologna; it is printed in Barbier archbishop de Montault, Le Costumeet les Usages ecclisiastiques (Paris, 1898), i. 37. Cardinaliumet Episcoporum, 81 De Ceremoniis p. 45 (Rome, 1563); it may be well to repeat that the book was written between the
26

de l'?glise (2nd ed.), ii, 357. 25 Cir?monies

so late as I867 by Pius IX; 32 and the biretta only by Leo XIII in I888.33 But skullcaps and birettas of violet had already been used by some dignified ecclesiastics; and the biretta even by the choir boys of Angers.34 The patriarchof Aquileia wore a violet biretta whenever he wore a violet cappa; 35 according to Sarnelli, quoted by Bonanni,36the canons of Antwerp also used one by ancient custom; in 1748 Benedict XIV granted it to the cathedral chapter of Brixen; and in I80o it was grantedby Pius VII to the canonsof Csanad in Hungary.37 French bishops,too, adopted it before its use became general. So with the skullcap: it was worn by many archbishopsand by French and Flemish bishops before the reign of Pius IX,38and before the French revolution by the canons of Antwerp.39 Some ten years ago a violet biretta of peculiar form was granted to the Ruthenian chaptersof Lemberg, Przemsyl, and Stanislaw.40 And the 'privilege' of violet skullcapandbirettais being extended to abbots. The abbot of Monte Cassino has both. But it must be observedthat, though not a bishop, he has episcopaljurisdiction, and actually rules a diocese larger than most in southern Italy. The present abbot of Monte Vergine also has both as a personal privilege ;41 but he, too, has episcopaljurisdiction. The abbot of Einsiedeln, though he also has episcopaljurisdiction, has neither skullcap nor biretta of violet. The abbot of Solesmes has the violet skullcap.42 At the beginning of the seventeenth century many, perhaps most, of the curial prelates wore black; but in the course of that century the use of violet was so freely
does not give the reference, but he is apparently quoting from the Lettere Ecclesiasticheof Pompeo Sarnelli (Manfredonia, 1686, and a second edition, Venice, 1716).
87 Bull. Rom. Cont. xi, 167. 88 Moroni, v, 174 (volume published
40

86 La Gerarchia Ecclesiastica,

82Barbier de Montault, op. cit. i. 224. 33 Ibid. p. 231. 84 Moleon, Voyagesliturgiquesen France, p. 83 (Paris, 1718). 35 Macri, Hierolexicon,s. v. Cardinalis.
i, 154 (Rome, 1720). Bonanni

years 1502 and 150Io.

42

41 So I am informed by his secretary, Dom Celestin Mercuro.

Barbier de Montault, op. cit. i. 454.

226.

in 1840)

89Ibid.

Barbier de Montault, op. cit. i.

375

Ecclesiastical Dress in

rt
St. Ambrose at Milan; 49 of Toledo 5o and Seville in Spain; those of Cologne and Mainz in Germany; of Le Puy and Besan0on in France; of Trent and Brixen in Tyrol; of Mechlin and Liege in Belgium ;5' of Westminster and the other catholic cathedrals in England. The cappa of the canons of Salamanca is partly black and partly violet; the mantle being of the former colour, the tippet of violet velvet.52 Formerly the canons of Brioude and Laon,53the dignitaries of Orleans,54 and the canonsregular of some houses, as those of St. Eloi of Arras and of St. Aubert of Cambrai,s5 also wore violet. Some minor canons56 also have it, and among them those of Pisa and Lisbon. And in at least one house of canons-regular, that of St. Jean des vignes at Soissons, the lay brothers were dressed in violet.57 In Rome the consistorial advocates,58 though for the most part laymen and married, wear, probably now only on ceremonial occasions, the ecclesiastical dress and that of violet. It is advisable to note that there are two kinds of violet-the Roman which inclines to red, and the commoner one which tends to blue; and that Paris de Grassis59expressed the opinion that the violet cappa should vary in shade, that it should be lighter or darker according to the season or the feast. There is a specimen of a light shade of the Roman violet in the picture labelled Portrait of a Cardinal in the large Tuscan room of the National Gallery. (To be continued.)
49 Magistretti, op. cit. p. 16. 50 Barbier de Montault, op. cit. i, 391. 51 I am indebted to the Rev. Theodore Collme, a vicar of the cathedral of Cologne, to Mgr. Schneider, a canon of Mainz, to Canon Daniel of Le Puy, to the secretaries of the archbishops of Besanqon and Mechlin, to the Rev. Dr. Niglutsch of Trent, and to Canon Le Roy, president of the seminary at Liege, for information relating to the cathedral chapters of these cities. 52 For this information I have to thank the rector of the Irish 53 Cl. de Vert, loc. cit. college at Salamanca. 55 Helyot, ii, 76. 54Moleon, op. cit. pp. 181, 182. s6 I use this term to denote the second rank of ecclesiastics in a cathedral or collegiate church; as a matter of fact they are known by various names. 57 Helyot, ii, 84. s8 Moroni, iii, 306. 69 Op. cit. p. 44.

granted to them that it came to be regarded as the proper colour for the dress of the officials of the papal court-taking this term to include not only those who actually perform the duties appertaining to the various offices, but also those whose connexion with the court is but honorary. And the lavish bestowal, in later times, of these honorary distinctions makes violet nowadays very common.43 Writers on ecclesiastical subjects are prone to see symbolism in everything, and it is not without interest to find that one such writer44 says (and he seems to be writing seriously) that there is good reason for the use of violet by the curial officials because that colour typifies ' modesty, moderation, and humility.' The papal household, however, is not the only one clothed in violet; that of the patriarch of Lisbon enjoys the same distinction.45 The grand prior of the order of Constantine was given permission by Clement XI to wear a violet mozzetta in (1700-1721) the churches under his jurisdiction, in the absence of the grand-master. When that dignitary was present he might not wear the mozzetta, but was allowed a violet mantelletta.46 The same pope granted the use of the violet mozzetta to sixty chaplains of the order of St. John of Jerusalem. As a matter of fact they only availed themselves of the privilege in Malta: some of them tried to do so in France, but the bishops objected.47 The canons of many churches have a violet choir-dress: for example, those of the patriarchal basilicas of Rome; of the cathedral of Milan, at certain seasons;48 of
48The Annuaire Pontifical Catholique for 1905 gives a list of over 3,000 holders of honorary offices (all having the title Monsignore)-protonotaries, domestic prelates, chamberlains, chaplains-with the warning, however, that the numbers must not be taken too strictly, as notices of death come to hand slowly. In 1797, according to the Notizie dell' Anno for that year, there were only 266 of these honorary distinctions. 44Bonanni, op. cit. p. 472. 45Moroni, xxxviii, 314. 46 Radente, op. cit. 138.
47 Helyot,
48

Magistretti, op. cit. p. 20.

iii, 114, 115.

376